balmsleek
I’m Alinta, an animal lover who writes reviews about cruelty free products as a distraction from my chronic illnesses. Read more…
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Today is the last day of #DisabilityPrideMonth so I want to talk about disability representation in the media. Disabled people tend to be completely ignored, or any representation we do have is harmful. Fantasy books in particular have a certain brand of ableism that many authors like to replicate. The disabled character tends to be a side character who is only used to teach the main non-disabled character a lesson. Other ableist things often seen are worlds where no disabled people exist, or where magic cures all disabilities, or where villains have scarring and facial differences, or where the disability is erased by another power (like a blind person being able to ‘see’ with their mind), or where the disability makes the character extra special (often seen with Autistic characters being geniuses but then no representation of anything else to do with autism). The list is endless. I just want books where disabled characters can have a full character arc (like other characters), without harmful stereotypes and tropes. I do however have a couple of recommendations for books with disability rep that are written by authors with those disabilities. #OwnVoices authors understand what it’s like to live in an ableist world and can show that in their stories whilst also showing disabled pride at the same time. My first recommendation is the book in the picture, One For All by Lillie Lainoff. It’s set in a world like the three musketeers with the main character having POTS. Then there’s Kaz Brekker in Six Of Crows who uses a cane and has PTSD. This is a morally grey disabled character who is not treated as less by his friends because of his disabilities. And I also have a romance, The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang. I’m not autistic so wasn’t sure how good this representation was, but I asked some autistic friends and they loved it, so I am adding this one to the list. I’m always looking for more fiction written by disabled people, so if you have any Own Voices recommendations please let me know.
#DisabilityReads #DisabilityBooks #DisabilityPride #DisabledAndProud #lovealinta
2 months ago
I asked for this @weaver.green_au picnic blanket for Christmas and it has come in very handy. I love sitting in the yard and relaxing with the dogs on it. The colour I got is called aqua but it’s actually a standard green shade. These blankets are made using 100% recycled plastic. Each blanket can be hand woven from up to 300 recycled plastic bottles. Their website says that in 5 years the company recycled 100 million bottles with 40% of those being recovered from waterways. Most of the plastic we put in the recycling bin just ends up in landfill, so I wanted to support a company that is doing something about that. The main reservation I have about fabric that is made using recycled plastic is the microplastics that are released on washing. That is why I don’t use plastic microfiber face washers as they get washed constantly. I decided that a picnic rug would be machine washed so rarely that the amount of microplastics released would be low, so this was an easy choice for me. Clothing is much harder choice, particularly sportswear. I wear a lot of leggings as they help keep my blood pressure stable. I try to either buy second hand or products that are made using recycled plastic. I use wash bags to collect microfibers, but the regular washing will be releasing far more microplastics than a product like this picnic rug. Anyway the point of my rambling is that I think it’s worth buying products like this that are made using recycled plastic when the wash level is low. However, sometimes we have to make compromises when we don’t have good alternatives, like with compression leggings. No one can live a perfectly sustainable life so we all have to figure out what works best for us. Do you think about recycled plastic or microplastics when making purchases? We don’t really know the extent of damage that microplastics are causing right now but we can still make decisions to try and reduce the harm. We do however know that plastic pollution, particularly in the ocean needs to be addressed immediately, so I’m all for companies helping with this.
#weavergreen #weavergreenaustralia #recycledplasticbottles #madefromrecycledplastic #microplastics #lovealinta
2 months ago
Appreciation post for my perfect little shadow. He’s currently sleeping on my shoulder, as usual. Bonsai’s heart is rapidly failing so I’m trying to appreciate every moment I have left with him. Give your pups extra love today because we only have them for a short time.
#heartfailure #chihuahua #rescuedog #adoptdontshop #dogsofmelbourne
3 months ago
The last two years have given me the chance to get back into reading. I loved reading as a kid, but adult life got in the way. I’m glad I’m back into it again. I’m a big fantasy fan, romantic fantasy is my all time fave, but I also read general romance too. I’ve been trying to find a book I can call my favourite, but I am yet to find it. I like strong women so the typical romantic fantasy trope of a naive teenage girl being manipulated/controlled/seduced by a powerful man hundreds of years older than her doesn’t really do it for me. So I went looking for adult fantasy books written by women (as men don’t tend to write women well) and I either get no results (as an fantasy written by a women is automatically counted as Young Adult even when it really shouldn’t be), or the books are counted as adult because they’re explicit, but they still have a naive teenager as the protagonist. So I’m looking for recommendations for fantasy books with a good romance and strong women characters, any suggestions? The book I’m reading is A Court Of Thorns and Roses. I read the whole ACOTAR series and it does get better after the first book with Feyre getting more agency.
Pictures from summer. Reading on the ground with dogs is never as peaceful as it could be, but the interruptions are worth it. Also a picture of how this hairstyle looks from the back. Dress from @tasitravels. You can get it from @velvetyethical with code ALINTAVEL for 10% off.
#DogsandBooks #FantasyRomanceBooks #LoveAlinta
3 months ago
It’s #naidocweek so here’s your reminder to #buyblak and care about Indigenous rights for more than just one week a year.
Brands mentioned in the video include @jyelahmindandbody @paperbarklove @bush_medijina @_kykoe and @theminorityco_.
I have lists of lots of Indigenous businesses in a google doc that I intended to make into blog posts but never found the energy to do so, but it means I can point you in the right direction if you’re looking for a certain sort of business to support. Also, post your fave blak owned businesses in the comments so other can check them out.
#naidocweek2022 #alwayswasalwayswillbe #landback #lovealinta
3 months ago
I know I promised a blog post on these a very long time ago but that didn’t happen so here’s some swatches instead. These are some of @elatecosmetics cruelty, vegan and sustainable pencils. There’s the 4 EyeColour Pencils Gleam, Mystic, Evolve and Merit which are buildable and easy to blend. I’m so pale that Gleam and Mystic and almost my skin colour but I still use them for highlights. Then there’s Hearth the EyeLine pencil which is a neutral brown. And finally the LipColours Enigma and Ardent which I’ve shown you how to use as lipstick and blush previously in a video. I probably get the most use out of Mystic and Ardent. Mystic is a good neutral shade on me and Ardent is one of my fave lip colours. Which one is your fave?
Anyone who wants to buy Elate in Aus can head to the Flora and Fauna website (affiliate link on my blog).
Also tomorrow is my birthday and a present I would love is photos of people attending the reproductive rights rally in Melbourne. Please go tomorrow, wear a mask, and take a photo of yourself and send it to me 😉 best birthday present ever.
#elate #elatecosmetics #elatebeauty #loveelate #lovealinta
3 months ago
Here’s a video of Bonsai’s recovery from cruciate ligament surgery this year. He ruptured his cruciate just before my wedding, and then had surgery shortly after. As well as repairing the ligament, the vet also created a deeper groove in his knee so to give his knee more stability. This is his second knee surgery as he had his other one done a year earlier. It’s very common for the second knee to be injured within a year of the first. His surgery and recovery were complicated by his IBD and heart failure, but as you can see his leg is doing really well now. I’ve been updating you in my stories about his heart failure. He doesn’t have much much time left with us, so I thought I would upload this so you can see that knee surgery is worth doing. I know lots of people are scared of the recovery period because crating can be demanding on your time and stressful for the dog, but giving them proper use of their leg back is worth it. I’ve seen dogs in rescue that are forced to go years without this surgery and the results are heartbreaking. The recovery can be hard, especially if there are other medical issues at play, like with Bonsai, but a good vet will try to make the dog as comfortable as possible for the recovery period. Humans get help when they rupture their ACL so please do the same for your dog. If you’re wondering how Bons is going today, he’s recovered from yesterdays sedation and is happily sitting on my shoulder - as per usual. There’s no way of knowing when his time will be up, so he’s being spoilt and loved until that day does come. He’s my little shadow who I love very much 🌒
#rescuedog #crutiate #crutiateligament #dogsofmelbourne #chihuahua
3 months ago
With it being #pridemonth, we are going to talk about the A in LGBTQIA+ (while you look at some of my rainbow-ish nails from over the years). The A stands for Asexual, or Aromantic, or Agender,, but not Ally. Asexuals are people who don’t experience sexual attraction to others (or only do in certain circumstances, like those who are grey or demisexual). It’s a spectrum, we’re all different. Many aces still have relationships, whether romantic, sexual or queer-platonic. Asexuality is about attraction, not relationship status. Aces are frequently erased from the queer community. Last pride was particularly bad for ace erasure and hate. Aces belong in the queer community. Many aces have a hard time coming to terms with being ace in our hyper-sexualised society, and then they have to deal with erasure from their own community too. I personally would have been saved years of worrying that something was wrong with me if someone had just explained the difference between sexual and romantic attraction to me as a teen. There are so many amazing aces out there who deserve to be supported, especially by the queer community. So, don’t forget to include the A if you’re going to use the LGBTQIA+ acronym, and show for aces, whether you’re in the community or an ally.
#pride #asexualpride #LGBTQIA #pridenails #rainbownails
3 months ago
Plastic packaging and beauty products. What can one change do? When @trilogyproducts changed from plastic spatulas to bamboo ones, they stopped producing 208,000 plastic spatulas a year. For me, that means I now won’t be adding to my very large pile of plastic spatulas that I have accumulated over the years by using the Trilogy Replenishing Night Cream every day. No other night cream compares for me, so I’m glad I won’t add to that pile. I kept them all hoping that I would find a use for them but that has yet to happen 🤷♀️ A lot of beauty brands market that their plastic can be recycled, but many of those products can’t be put in curbside recycling. When they can go into the recycling bin it doesn’t mean customers are actually doing that, and even when the plastic does make it into the recycling bin, it doesn’t mean it’s actually recycled. There’s a huge amount of plastic in recycling centers that never gets made into something new. So I appreciate it when brands do make changes like this because I can see the result as a consumer. That doesn’t always mean the change is automatically better for the environment, because there’s no way of knowing if the brand uses more materials or greenhouse gases to make the new version. Beauty brands can be very cagey about their greenhouse gas emissions, particularly their scope 3 emissions. Therefore as consumers we can often only make best guesses as to which brands and products are the most sustainable choice. Changing plastic packaging is however a very obvious difference for customers, because we see the difference in where our waste goes. So as a customer I do like seeing brands moving to products that aren’t plastic, or at the very least using plastic that is easily curbside recycled. Many beauty brands have a long way to go before their products are easily recycled, but Trilogy is one of the brands who have made an effort to change this. So long story, short, I love Trilogy skincare products and appreciate that they are trying to make the brand more eco-friendly. What’s your opinion on this? Do you have a weird plastic spatula pile, or is it just me?
#trilogy #trilogyskincare #discovertrilogy #lovealinta
4 months ago
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